I get the feeling that the Democrat running for Secretary of State has never stepped foot in that office, and quite possibly knows less about it than Heather Baxter.
Democrat Terrance Davis is on social media, declaring that under him, the Secretary of State’s office would add a dedicated investigative division.
What? How many FTE’s does he plan on requesting from the legislature for this? Is someone out there saying we need more government? Or if he’s going to accomplish it within the current budget confines of the office, which divisions does he plan on stripping staff from to create this new Division of Investigation?
The Secretary of State‘s office is not one of the larger ones within the State of South Dakota. Not to mention, the Secretary of State is considered the state’s record keeper – not an investigator or prosecutor. The investigative function generally resides with the Attorney General. I can’t imagine that they would be all hot and bothered about this proposal, either.
While it might sound bright and shiny when Terrance is making a campaign speech, when the rubber hits the road, adding employees and an entire new division is one of those dogs that is never going to hunt.
What is he going to investigate?
Mr. Davis could very easily be our next SOS. He’ll get the 35% of democrats vote. On top of that I’d say the majority of independents and 5-10% of republicans have no time for the election integrity crap. That’s right at or over 50%. And while I probably wouldn’t vote for Davis, there is NO way I’ll vote for Baxter!
Terrance will be elected at the convention just like either Secretary Johnson or Representative Baxter will be elected in the Republican Convention in Rapid City in July.
I will admit I have never been to a South Dakota convention so please correct me but I think those require a majority and not 35% like in a primary.
Sorry for the confusion…I was implying that Baxter will be the republicans nominee and Davis will be the democrats pick. They will run against each other in the general election. In this scenario I can definitely see Davis getting enough independent and republican votes to be our next SOS.
It’s definitely an understaffed office. Incredibly understaffed. Why these constitutional offices have 5-20 people working in them but the agencies and bureaus have grown so rapidly in FTE’s tells me many of their functions should be given to other elected officials directly accountable to the electorate. Look at the size of BFM and compare to the state auditor. The last 10-20 years have been good to BFM.
I guess Trump makes unmandated unapproved government expansion and closures look easy to do.
If you were to list the stupidest ideas for this upcoming session in ranked order, most stupid on down, this wouldn’t even crack the top 50.
He has about a good of shot of winning the general as Justin McNeil does beating Mike Rounds in the primary.
Did you complain about “needing more government” when Noem added an internal control position following the discovery of multiple employee fraud cases? This seems to be in the same vein. Perhaps tasking an elected office, rather than the executive branch, with this task is more appropriate?